Folding bracket.



G. H. RIGHARDSON & P. F, METZGER. FOLDING BRACKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.31. 1910.

975,0 9, Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

A SHEETSSHEET 1.

KIINYENTORS vwrrlvE ssEs THE NcRRls PETERS 0a., WASHINGTON, u. c

G. H. RICHARDSON &, F. F. METZGER.

FOLDING BRACKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1910.

975,069. Patented Nov.8, 1910.

w I I INvENToRs I $044M 7) I A TTORNEY 4SHEETS-SHEET 2.

0. HQRIGHARDSON & P. P METZGBR.

FOLDING BRACKET.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1910.

Patented Nov.8,1910.-

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTORS WIT ESSES ATTORNEY 1: NORRIS PETERS ca, WASH'FKG7OW,- 01-0 G-H. RICHARDSON & F. F. MET ZGER.

FOLDING BRACKET. APPLIOATIQN TILED MAB.31, 1910.

Patented Nov. 8,1910.

ATTORNEE.

N Fig CHARLES H. RICHARDSON AND FERDINAND F. METZGER,

OF PHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA.

FOLDING BRACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

Application filed March 31, 1910. Serial No. 552,515.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES H. RIGH- ARDSON and F EI-FDINAND F.Mnrzonn, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city andcounty of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Folding Brackets, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to improvements in extensible brackets, such, forinstance, as are used to carry a dental engine, a table, a telephone, orother object; our aim being to furnish such a bracket which will besimple and practical in construction, rigid and efficient in action,give a longer reach when open, occupy less space when closed, andpreserve the position of the object or objects supported in a mannersuperior to other forms of extensible brackets.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and inwhich similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveral views; Figure 1, is a side elevation of one form of our bracketpartly extended; Fig. 2, a plan of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan view of partof the bracket, Figs. 1 and 2 enlarged, fully extended; Fig. 4, a planview of part of the bracket fully closed; Fig. 5, a section through oneof the main arms of the bracket on line A-A, Fig. 8; Fig. 6, a plan ofthe arm shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, an end elevation of Fig. 6; Fig. 8, avertical distorted section of an arm following the centers of thesections and its pivots, the ends of adjoining arms being similarlyshown; Fig. 9, a plan of the modification of the device in which thearms are mounted progressively one above the other; Fig. 10, a sideelevation of Fig. 9; Fig. 11, a side elevation of a modification of thedevice in which a double combination of the form shown in Figs. 9 and 10is employed; Fig. 12, a diagrammatic plan of a modification of thebracket shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 13, a diagrammatic plan of a modified formof bracket.

Our extensible bracket is formed of a number of folding arms (three ormore) pivoted one to another at or near their ends so that they can beextended nearly in a straight line from the support or folded oneagainst the other and close to the support.

The peculiarity of our bracket is that an opening or closing movementimparted to any one arm will be simultaneously transmitted to all of theother arms in such a manner that a similar angular relation will bepreserved between the several arms at all times.

1, 2, 3, 4C, 5, 6, 7, Figs. 1 and 2, are arms secured one to the otherat or near their ends by pivots 8 around which they can rotate, turn orswing. 7 These arms may be of equal or of unequal lengths, but it ispreferable, in order that the bracket may present a symmetricalappearance, more particularly when closed, that the extreme rear andfront arms, in the drawings 1 and 7 be approximately one-half the lengthof the next adjoining arms as shown in the drawings.

The arms intermediate of the end arms may be of equal length as shown inFigs. 3, a, 9 and'10, or they may successively decrease 1n length towardthe outer end of the bracket as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The latterconstruction, presenting the neatest appearance, is preferred.

The main arms 1, 2, 3, &c., may be jointed one inside the other as shownin Figs. 1 and S, or they may be jo nted above, as shown in Fig. 10, orbelow one another as shown in Fig. 11. In the two latter constructionsthe pivot pins 8 which connect adjoining ends of the arms 1, 2, 3, &c.are secured fixedly to one of the adjoining arms, by pins 6, forinstance, and turn freely in the other arm. The cranks or levers a,which are pivotally connected at 10, 11, 13, Figs. 10 and 11, to thecontrolling rods 9, are also fastened securely to the pivots S so thatany movement given to either the arm 9 or controlling rod will betransmitted to the other.

The reference letter Z) indicates a pin which may be employed to securethe arms or levers a to the pins 8.

Connecting each alternate main arm are means for causing any movement ofany one main arm around its pivotal connection to the next arm to impartto the other main arm a similar angular movement. As illustrated in thedrawings this means consists, in the present case, of equalizing orcontrolling rods 9, there being a'controlling rod connecting eachalternate main arm, but any other means for accomplishing this objectmay be used. From the drawings it will be seen that one end of acontrolling rod 9 is pivoted to arm 1 at 10 and at the other end to thearm 3, or to a projection of this arm, at 11. The next controlling rodis pivoted at one end to the main arm 2 at 12, and at the other end tothe arm 1, or to a projection of this arm, at 13, and so on. The pivotslt and 8 at opposite ends of the main arm 1, and the pivot 10 011 thisarm, to which one end of the first controlling rod 9 is pivoted, are,preferably, all in line. The main pivots 8 at opposite ends of the arm 2and the pivot 12, carried by arm 2, to which one end of the secondcontrolling rod 9 is pivoted, are preferably, all in line. The mainpivots at opposite ends of the main arm 3 and the pivot 11 on this armto which theouter end of the first controlling rod 9 is secured and thepivot 11 on this rod to which the inner end of the third controlling rod9 is secured, are preferably all in line, and so on, the broken lines inFigs. 2, 3, 1, 5 and 6 being inserted in the drawings to clearly showthis feature of the preferred construction. In the above figures thesecondary pivots carried by the main arms, to which the end of thecontrolling rods 9 are secured, are all shown at equal distances fromthe main pivots 8. The ends I of each separate controlling rod must, for

the proper working of our device, be attached to their main arms atequal distances from the main pivots, but it is not necessary that allof the controlling rods be attached to the main arms at equal distancesfrom the pivots 8, each rod may be attached to its arms at points foundconvenient so long as its own pivots are at equal distances from thepivots of the arms.

In Fig. 12 is shown a modification of our bracket'in which the pivotscarried by the main arms are out of line, but a line passed through thecenters of the pivot 8, at the upper end of arm 2, and the pivot 10 onarm 1 is parallel to a line passed through the centers of the pivot 8,at the lower end of arm 2, and the pivot 11 carried by arm 3, and a linepassed through the centers of pivot 8, at the lower end of arm 2, andthe pivot 12 carried by arm 2 is parallel to a line passing through thecenters of pivot 8, at top of arm 3, and pivot 13 carried by arm 4-, andso on.

In Fig. 13 a form of bracket is shown with double sets of controllingrodseach main arm having upon opposite sides controlling arms.

The several controlling arms 9 pivoted to the several main arms as shownand described will cause each alternate main arm, as 1, 3, 5, &c., and2, 4, 6, &c., to open and close parallel to one another, hence theangles between the several main arms will always be practically equal.Thus a synchronous movement in all the parts is insured when the bracketis opened or closed, and, when the lengths of the several arms areproperly proportioned, the outer end 16 of the outer arm, which isdesigned to carry together, the controlling rods 9 are bent or recessedat 18 so as to clear the main pivots 8 or the bosses on the main armsthrough which the pivots pass; except when said controlling rods areplaced above or below the main arms when the said controlling rods canbe straight as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. The controlling rods 9 are soplaced as not to engage one another, as shown in Figs. 1, 8, 10 and 11,and the thickness of the main arms is preferably not more than one-halfthe diameter of the bosses which they carry. For the same purpose thebosses arepreferably placed one to one side and the other to the otherside of their carrying members, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the webs19 connecting the top and bottom chords of these members are beveled andplaced as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6, so as to be cleared by the rods 9when the bracket is either fully open or closed.

The inner end of the inner arm 1 of the bracket is'usually pivoted orotherwise suitably secured to the wall or other support as shown in thedrawings, and the outer end of the outer arm is usually employed tocarry the object which the bracket supports, but we do not desire toconfine ourselves to these particular points for these attachments asthey can be made where most convenient and the bracket can obviously beadapted for carrying more than one object.

l/Ve believe that it is most advantageous to arrange the bracket so thatall of the pivots 8, as well as the carrying pivot 14 will be vertical,for in this arrangement the bracket can be swung around the pivot 14 ina horizontal plane and will remain in any position within the limits ofits swing that may be desired; however, we do not limit ourselves to anyparticular manner of attaching it to its support.

Having thus described our invention we claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three ormore arms pivoted one to the other, and means connecting alternate armsat or near their ends for causing a movement imparted to any one arm tomove all of the other arms inwardly or outwardly simultaneously.

2. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more arms or neartheir ends, and means substantially parallel to the axis of theintermediate arm connecting alternate arms for causing all of pivotedtogether at them to open or close simultaneously from a fully extendedposition to one where the arms lie side by side close together.

3. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more arms pivotedtogether at or near their ends, and means connecting said arms forcausing them to open or close simultaneously, said means forming withthe main arms elongated parallelograms, the long sides of theparallelograms formed of an arm and the connecting means and the twoshort sides formed by fractional lengths of the arms, or extensions ofthe arms, adjoining the first arm.

4:. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more arms pivotedtogether at or near their ends, and controlling rods connectingalternate arms, the axis of said controlling rods and of the adjacentintermediate arms being substantially parallel, said controlling rodsbeing pivoted to the alterna to arms, or extensions on the arms, atpoints distant from the main pivot-s less than half the lengths of thearms.

5. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more main armspivoted together at or near their ends, and controlling rods pivoted toand connecting alternate main arms without crossing the intermediatearm, the pivotal connection ofsaid rods to said arms and the pivotssecuring said arms to the adjoining arms being in line.

6. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more main armspivoted together at or near their ends, and controlling rods pivoted toand connecting alternate arms, said rods being arranged so as to permita close folding of the arms.

7 In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more arms pivotedtogether at or near their ends, and controlling rods pivoted to andconnecting alternate arms, said pivoted connections being made upon thebody of one arm inside the pivotal connection of said arm and the nextadjoining arm, and with a projection on said alternate arm beyond thepivotal connection of this latter arm and the intermediate arm, saidrods being bent or recessed as at 18, as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more main armsforming each a frame the ends of which carry upon opposite sides,bosses, and which are furnished at one end with an extension beyond thebosses adapted to carry one of the pivots of a controlling rod, and uponthe other end, inside the boss, with a pivot to carry the end of anothercontrolling rod, main pivots passing through said bosses, securingadjoining ends of said arms, and controlling rods connecting alternatearms, one of the ends of said rods being carried by the pivot on theextension of one arm, and the other by the pivot inside the end of thealternate arm, adjoining rods moving in difierent planes and beingbei'ft or recessed to clear the bosses carried by the ends of the arms.

9. In an extensible bracket, in combination, three or more armsconsisting each of a Webbed frame the ends of which carry, upon oppositesides, bosses, and which are furnished at one end with an extensionbeyond the bosses adapted to carry one of the pivots of. a controllingrod, and upon the other end, inside the boss, with a pivot to carry theend of another controlling rod, main pivots passing through said bossessecuring adjoining ends of said arms, and controlling rods connectingalternate arms, one of the ends of said rod being carried by the pivoton the extension of one arm and the other end by the pivot carriedinside the end of the alternate arm, adjoining rods moving in differentplanes and being bent or recessed to clear the bosses carried by theends of the arms, the webs joining the top and bottom chords of the mainarm frames being beveled, all substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

CHARLES H. RICHARDSON. FERDINAND F. METZGER.

Witnesses:

FEBD. E. V. SAPPINGTON, CHARLES A. Roman.

